Fabulous photos again. Full of admiration for you getting yourself down, what a nightmare! Will be thinking of you on your road to recovery. At least when I snapped my Achilles tendon, I only had to get down off Crosscraigs and hop 6 miles using 1 walking stick and hubby holding me up, many years ago I might say.

Luckily, it was the lesser of the two evils, torn calf muscles, and didn’t need an operation.

I’m off the crutches now, doing lots of stretching and strength building exercises, along with as much walking as I can manage, (on flat terrain).

Things are improving noticeably day by day, so with a bit of luck I might be able to start heading for the hills again in terms of weeks rather than months. (Although I think somewhat tentatively, with a few short and not too strenuous walks at first, just to test the waters!) .

Three weeks ago, not within my wildest dreams could I have imagined this amount of recovery in this space of time, so overall, well satisfied with the way things are going.

With a couple of less strenuous walks now under the belt, (Darwen Moor and Pendle Hill), and with the forecast for yesterday being very good, I decided to have a trip to the Lake District to give my calf muscles a good testing!

Couldn’t resist the charms of what must be my favourite area, Great Langdale, and had a walk up Bowfell by the Climber’s Traverse and Great Slab, followed by Crinkle Crags – with a circular tour of Crinkle No.2 in order to climb the “Bad Step” yet again! Then on to Red Tarn for a few photos looking back towards Bowfell, and finally back down to Great Langdale valley via Brown Howe and Oxendale.

Apart from some early morning haze, had great weather all day – and best of all, no problems with the leg!

Regards,
Mike.

GPS Track of route taken

A few pics from the day: - (Photo descriptions in list form below, to ensure that thumbnails show correctly in grid-layout).Photo 1 - Looking across Great Slab to the Langdale Pikes.Photo 2 - Scafell Pike, Mickledore, and Scafell - from Bowfell summit.Photo 3 - The Scafells from Three Tarns Plateau.Photo 4 - Bowfell from Three Tarns Plateau.Photo 5 - Great Knott, Crinkle Crags, and Bowfell from Red Tarn.Photo 6 - Pike of Stickle and Loft Crag from vicinity of Stool End Farm.

adampembs wrote:Stunning! So jealous, I love the lakes. Glad you're back to walking!

Cheers Adam.

The leg seems to be as good as ever, so plenty of walks in the offing!

Yesterday I was up at the crack of dawn and off to the Lakes to do a (long) walk. – Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route, but starting from Langdale.
(14.8 miles, with 5570 ft. of ascents).

Set off from the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel (NT) car park, along Mickleden, up the Rossett Gill path to Angle Tarn, then on to Esk Hause, Sprinkling Tarn, and towards Sty Head to pick up the Corridor Route.
Then followed the Corridor Route to Scafell Pike, (where there were several dozen people milling about at the summit!), before carrying on to the summits of Broad Crag, Ill Crag, and Great End.
Then went down to Esk Hause, and up to Esk Pike before going on to Bowfell via Ore Gap. Finally going back down to Langdale via the Three Tarns, The Band, and Stool End Farm.

Regards,
Mike.

GPS track/map of the route walked: -

A few pics from the day: - (Photo descriptions in list form below, to ensure that thumbnails show correctly in grid-layout).Photo 1 - New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and the Langdale Pikes.Photo 2 - Close-up of The Great Slab on Bowfell. (Taken from top of Rossett Gill).Photo 3 - Great Gable dominating the view from Scafell Pike summit slope.Photo 4 - Langdale Pikes from Great End summit plateau.Photo 5 - The only cloud I saw all day! (Taken from Esk Hause).Photo 6 - Heading back to Langdale Valley - (Tired but happy).

Had another trip to the Lake District yesterday, specifically with photography in mind, so my planned walk was quite short and didn’t visit any of the higher fells. Not much more than a gentle stroll up to Side Pike and Lingmoor Fell, before descending to Blea Tarn for some “classic” shots of the Langdale Pikes across the tarn.
I had intended doing another leisurely “photography” walk in the afternoon, but the clouds came in just after lunchtime. It became decidedly overcast and wouldn’t have been very good for picture taking - so that particular walk will have to wait for another day!

Regards,
Mike.

GPS Track of the route walked: -

A few pics from the day: - (Photo descriptions in list form below, to ensure that thumbnails show correctly in grid-layout).Photo 1 - Looking from the flanks of Side Pike towards Mickleden and The Band. With Crinkle Crags, Bowfell, Rossett Pike etc. on the horizon, and Pike of Stickle to the right.Photo 2 - The Langdale Pikes vista from Side Pike. – One of their finest viewpoints. (But it’s hard to take a bad shot of the Langdales!).Photo 3 - Looking down to Blea Tarn from Lingmoor Fell summit ridge.Photo 4 - The classic view of the Langdale Pikes across Blea Tarn.Photo 5 - And another shot of the Langdale Pikes across Blea Tarn. This time including Side Pike.Photo 6 - Some of the many thousands of Minnow fry seen in the shallows of Blea Tarn.

I think we will make a repeat visit to the Lakes. Perhaps we could go on a walk with you? A less strenuous one We went in October 2014 with the Sun Holidays scheme and stayed in a caravan for 4 days. Weather was glorious for the time of year, perfect for walking, if anything TOO warm!
Alternatively, you have some nice walking up by Settle/Skipton area if I remember correctly.

adampembs wrote:I think we will make a repeat visit to the Lakes. Perhaps we could go on a walk with you? A less strenuous one . . . .

Hi Adam,

In the days of my youth, when trips had to be planned around work etc., bad weather was all too often encountered, and was part and parcel of the outdoor Lake District experience.
Nowadays, and being that I live not too far away, I try to optimise things by making my trips very last minute affairs - based on latest local weather forecast & area mountain weather forecast.
Even so, these forecasts are often not as accurate would be hoped for. Lakeland weather is notoriously fickle. When it’s good, it’s fantastic, but, especially on the fells, it can change from glorious sunshine to pea-soup mist and heavy rain, sometimes, in a matter of minutes!

I fully appreciate though, that for anyone living further afield, pre-booked holiday stays become the only realistic option, and you are always at the mercy of whatever the weather happens to be doing during your chosen period.

If you do decide to have another holiday in the Lakes, I’d be happy to meet up for a walk if I’m free at the time. (We could sort things out by email/phone if any dates are set).

Specifically with walking in mind, the Lake District has always been top of my list. But as you mention, there are some great (and not too strenuous ) walks to be had in the Settle/Skipton area too. Some gorgeous scenery around Malham/Goredale etc. etc. – A couple of weeks back I did a very nice short walk to the archeologically famous caves along Brent Scar - Attermire Scar, (which is less than two miles from Settle as the crow flies). Perhaps I’ll start another thread for my “non-Lake District” walks, and upload a few pics from there.